1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of selecting a lens color at the time when eyeglass lenses are colored with a color having transparency during the preparation of the lenses, or at the time when a purchaser selects colored eyeglass lenses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In eyeglass retailers, conventional manner of proposing lens colors to a purchaser is as follows: A salesperson first shows the purchaser color samples which have different dye concentrations depending on manufacturers of eyeglass lenses, and tells the purchaser expected final colors. The selection of color for eyeglass lenses requires a great deal of skill and experience. Further, each salesperson has relied solely on his or her own experience in selecting a lens color which best matches the purchaser.
Since no universal methods have been established for selecting lens colors, as mentioned above, it has been difficult to objectively determine whether or not the selected lens color is suited for the purchaser.
Moreover, salespersons sometimes encounter difficulties in selecting lens colors because of the following reasons. The ranges of usable colors and allowable dye concentrations vary depending on the refractive power or thickness of lenses. Besides, purchasers cannot clearly imagine how the ordered lenses look until the lenses are actually presented before them after colored. When purchasers whose eyesight must be heavily corrected want to have a new eyeglass frame and new colored lenses in combination, they encounter a difficulty in confirming whether or not the new eyeglasses are suited for them because of their eyesight. Namely, even though the purchasers look into a mirror to confirm how they look with new eyeglasses, they see their faces with new eyeglass frames only vaguely because lenses are missing. In addition, with regard to the lens colors, the purchasers have no choice but to imagine them, and therefore, the results are far from the objective judgment.
This sometimes leads to purchasers' dissatisfaction after the ordered eyeglasses have been finished, and in some cases, purchasers had to pay extra money for placing another order and obtaining the eyeglasses which they actually wanted.
As described above, in the conventional method, successful results in selecting colors of eyeglasses depend on the skill and experience of a salesperson. Therefore, an improved method has been desired for achieving selection of lens colors at a sufficiently standardized level by using a universal rule with high adaptability.